I have been trying to write an Applescript to help me saving attachments, but realized quickly that I do not have the knowledge to do such a difficult script. Here is some background.

We receive daily sales reports, and flight manifests. The format in the subject should be: dd.mm.yyyy/"two letter airline code".DSR.Weight.

I.e. 30.01.2013/VS.DSR.1110KG

In the case of the manifest, in the same format, substitute DSR with MNFST.

I.e. 30.01.2013/VS.MNFST.1110KG.

There are however countless variations to the subject, and we are all human, and sometimes , is used, or more / etc. Our staff are great and work extremely hard, and the last thing they need me to do is be on their case about subject formats.

Therefore I was trying to get an Applescript to look at the two things that are always in the subject. The airlines two letter code, and the word DSR or MNFST/MFST/Manifest

We have the following two letter codes, sometimes in lower, or uppercase or a mix.

CV VS SAA TK DHV LH

Now the DSR can be in the subject in a number of ways, its not always seperated, ie. 30.01.2013/VSDSR1110KG

Same applies for MNFST/MFST/Manifest.

Ideally, I need a script to work in two parts:

DSR:

1. Check the subject for the flight code and DSR
2. Save the .xls attachment to /DSR/Airline two letter code
3. If File is more recent (A correction might be sent later that day/early the next morning.), add 1, if another 2 etc.

I.e. 30.01.2013/VS.DSR.1110KG.xls: Macintosh HD/Users/(My username)/Dropbox/DSR/VS I.e. 30.01.2013/CV.DSR.1110KG.xls: Macintosh HD/Users/(My username)/Dropbox/DSR/CV

Manifest (Sometimes a .xls/.pdf/.zip file. It varies.)

1. Check the subject for the flight code and (Manifest or MNFST or MFST)
2. Save the .xls/.pdf/.zip attachment to Manifests/Airline two letter airline code
3. If the file is more recent (I.e. a file conflict with the same name. A correction might be sent later that day/early the next morning.), add 1, if another 2 etc.

I.e. For VS: Macintosh HD/Users/(My username)/Dropbox/Manifests/VS

From the 3 hours I spent attempting this and getting nowhere fast, I thought someone might find this an interesting challenge, and it would be greatly appreciated!

Meanwhile, I am going to be reading up on Applescript in my free time, very powerful tool and time saver!